Troop 701 from Wakefield, Massachusetts

Follow Troop 701’s track

2 July – Day 1 – Marsh Harbour

Three adults and eight youth arrived today as part of another split crew with Viento Azul. As usual, we motored to Matt Lowe to do the swim test and then the crew went for a snorkel while the crew chief and assistant crew chief worked on duty rosters and meal plans.

I went for a swim but brought my camera just in case. The waters around Matt Lowe Cay turned out to be more interesting than I’d imagined. I found a green Giant Anemone, a blue sponge, a banded Coral Shrimp, tiny Spotted Moray eel deep in a crack, a juvenile Reef Beauty, a juvenile Blue Tang (still yellow), a mid-size Atlantic Lobster, some sort of kelp-like gorgonian (needs identification), a bright red Thorny Sea Star, a tiny juvenile Nassau Grouper living in a vacant conch, and a variety of Cassiopea (Mangrove Upsidedown Jelly).

Davius oversaw dinner prep tonight. Mike F. worked the grill, Mr Nelson sautéed onions in the galley, and Spencer cut tomatoes and onions.

After dinner, Crew Chief Tyler briefed everyone on meal prep and berth rules, and I discussed live aboard for the coming week.

3 July – Day 2 – Matt Lowe

We had a quiet night, other than the dinghy driving me nuts until I woke Capt. Steve at 2 am to move it behind Los Vientos. In the morning, we had a very tight anchor circle. The wind had come steady at 8-12 knots from the south-east all night.

The crew started the day with pancakes. Once the cooking, eating, and cleaning was done, we pulled anchor, unfurled the jib, and motor-sailed to Fowl Cay Reef for some awesome snorkeling and playtime.

We took a break from snorkeling to have lunch. The crew had deli meat sandwiches and PB&Js. Capt. Steve dinghied the crew to the outer reef and a couple of the adults stayed aboard for a nap.

In the middle of the afternoon, we left Fowl Cay Reef to head to Tahiti Beach. Capt. Steve instructed the boys on the mechanics of cat sailing. The crew learned about the different types of lines, like sheets, halyards, etc. Finally, we hoisted the main sail and unfurled the jib and tacked our way south.

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4 July – Day 3 – Tahiti Beach

The crew was up early this morning. We had scrambled eggs and sausage patties, courtesy of David, Mike F., and Mr. Nelson.

Once done with chores, the boys swam to the beach to play on the sandbar and look for coconuts in the woods. Mr. Nelson took his drone to the beach and shot some cool footage for us.

From Tahiti Beach we motored to Hope Town to visit the Elbow Reef Lighthouse and town. We had conch burgers at Munchies and visited a couple of gift shops.

Back on the boat, the crew perfected their cannon balls.

When that got too boring, the boys decided to catch a barracuda.

For 4th of July, we decided to head up to the Settlement at Great Guana Cay. On the way, a small storm developed and caught up with us.

Perfect time for a joy shower!

We anchored at the Settlement at Great Guana Cay to watch the fireworks tonight. First, Mr. Chan made spaghetti with meatballs, which were extremely well received. After dinner we played Project Runway to practice walking more stealthily to avoid smashing the foam flooring. The stars started to come out, the Big Dipper, Polaris, Scorpio, Deneb in Cygnus (the Swan), Vega in the Lyra, and Altair in Aquila (the Eagle). The last three stars form the asterism called the Summer Triangle.

It was pretty dark before the first fireworks started. The last one, around 10:20, directly in front of the boat was the best and a great finale for this 4th of July.

5 July – Day 4 – Great Guana Cay

At 4:34, according to Mike F., a rain shower drenched the boat. The radar showed it was an isolated freak disturbance that fell apart as quickly as it had started. Nonetheless, it was a bit of a scramble to get everyone under the roof for about 15 minutes before heading back out. I kept checking the radar for more and didn’t sleep much the rest of the night.

I woke to some complaints about the nightly inconvenienced due to the rain from the net in front of me. Tough, poo! It’s a high adventure camping trip and we’ve been pretty lucky with the weather so far!

We had cereal and canned peaches for breakfast before pulling anchor, unfurling the jib, and motor-sailing around the northern end of Great Guana.

We spent the morning snorkeling the extensive reef which lies at the northern boundary of our sailing area.

Guana Reef consists of a number of linear structures, initially built by brain, star, and elkhorn coral. Much of those have been decimated and plate coral, fire coral, finger coral, soft coral and octocoral are now dominant.

It took a while to get everyone back to the boat. Meanwhile, the boys continued with the cannon balls.

We added bumper rodeo and Mike F. emerged victorious.

Here are the participants:

We had grilled cheese sandwiches and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for lunch. Cold oranges, apples, and peaches for dessert. Yum. That was enough to refuel and the crew headed out for further explorations along Guana Reef.

[More to come. Stay tuned.]

Respectfully submitted,

Capt. Carmen
S/V Los Vientos